Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Toyota Yaris 2011: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 66 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2011 Toyota Yaris were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Coil spring (front).

Summary

A 2011 Toyota Yaris passed first time about 2 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2010 and 2012 model years.

At a glance

How 15,471 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
66 in every 100
Did not pass first time
34 in every 1005,243 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
14 yearsabout 75,251 miles
First tests counted
15,471

What failed most often

  1. Coil spring (front)19 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Number plate lights7 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2011 Toyota Yaris vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (rear): 3.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 5,241 of 5,243 failed first attempts that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Individual sidelight or tail light (rear)

Failed on 346 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

Number plate lights (rear)

Failed on 385 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Suspension

One fault: coil spring (front), 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Coil spring (front)

Failed on 992 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A missing bump stop rubber is not a reason to fail a coil spring. When the vehicle is jacked and lowered, a spring that does not correctly locate as the suspension returns to its normal running position is rejected as insecurely attached. A missing spring is Major, and graded Dangerous where directional control is affected.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Brakes

One fault: rigid brake pipes (rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 168 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 638 first tests, 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Suspension mounting area (rear)

Noted on 198 first tests4.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm (front)

Noted on 402 first tests4.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Vehicle structure condition (rear)

Noted on 68 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Noted on 460 first tests3.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Chassis condition (rear)

Noted on 67 first tests3.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel bearings (rear)

Noted on 68 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Macpherson strut (front)

Noted on 124 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
66in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
9in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
25in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 66.1% of 15,471 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 75.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 9 fixed and the 25 not fixed make the 34 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol14,53073,674 miles6666
Diesel938106,897 miles6367

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

40608010020002005201120152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100200020112020Older carsNewer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 69 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
199952 in every 100789
200055 in every 1002,689
200155 in every 1005,605
200256 in every 1007,169
200353 in every 1009,228
200454 in every 10011,038
200554 in every 10013,843
200654 in every 10014,734
200755 in every 10018,423
200856 in every 10020,176
200963 in every 10023,051
201062 in every 10017,516
2011 This car66 in every 10015,471
201267 in every 10026,595
201369 in every 10028,189
201472 in every 10028,423
201579 in every 10030,019
201681 in every 10027,852
201781 in every 10026,164
201884 in every 10027,274
201986 in every 10027,244
202088 in every 10020,094
202191 in every 10023,209
202292 in every 10020,982

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2011 Yaris.

Of 2011 Yaris vehicles with under 50,000 miles, 77 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 104,000 miles or more, 59 in every 100 did.

Under 50,0003,062 tests
77
50,000–68,0003,219 tests
70
68,000–83,000 Typical car2,940 tests
65
83,000–104,0003,117 tests
60
104,000 and over3,131 tests
59

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol73,674 miles6666
Diesel106,897 miles6367

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 106,897 against 73,674). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 50,00068,000–83,000104,000 and over
Coil spring (front)5.06.97.5
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)1.05.27.9
Number plate lights0.32.34.4
Windscreen washers1.71.73.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.91.73.2

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

37in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

36in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

A 2011 Toyota Yaris passed first time about 2 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2010 and 2012 model years. In 2025, 66.1% of 15,471 first MOTs on the 2011 Toyota Yaris passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 75.4%. Among 5,243 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (6.6% of those tests; 346 observed failures; about 3.2× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2011 Toyota Yaris at the first attempt were Coil spring (front) (18.9%), Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (14.3%) and Number plate lights (7.3%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) (6.6% of those tests; 346 observed failures; about 3.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.6% of those tests; 346 observed failures; about 3.2× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2011 Toyota Yaris include Individual sidelight or tail light (rear), Coil spring (front), Number plate lights (rear). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2011 Toyota Yaris (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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